Carel Fabritius
Carel Fabritius was a Dutch Baroque artist who lived from 1622 to 1654. He was part of the Dutch Golden Age of Art. For many years, he was known simply as a student of Rembrandt. Recently, he has been given more attention and credit for his artistic style and technique and is now recognized as an influential artist of the Delft school. There was much more to this man than history has left us.
Fabritius was born to an artistically inclined family in Middenbeemster, just north of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands. His father was a sexton and teacher and was an artist part time. He was one of three boys. His father likely gave then their earliest art instruction. It was originally believed that Carel’s first career was as a carpenter, a trade he worked with his brother, Barent. And that their last name, Fabritius, from the Latin word for carpenter, faber, was proof of that. However, his father may have used the same last name, so that information is unclear. However, it is clear that all three of the sons decided early on to work as artists.
Fabritius had a tragically difficult and short life. In 1641, he married Aeltge, a woman from his hometown. Together, they moved to Amsterdam so he could continue his artistic career. In Amsterdam, Fabritius trained and worked in Rembrandt’s studio. He is the most famous of Rembrandt’s pupils and set himself apart from the rest by the use of lighter backgrounds and scenes with more natural light. He broke away from the stark chiaroscuro that was a main feature of Dutch art. In 1643, Fabritius’s wife died in childbirth. She may have given birth to twins, with one dying with her. One child did survive, a daughter. Unfortunately, his daughter died shortly after his wife. After the tragedy, Fabritius moved back to Middenbeemster to live with his family.
In 1650, Fabritius married again, this time to the widow, Agatha van Pruyssen. They officially moved their residence to Delft shortly after. In 1652, Fabritius joined the Delft painters’ guild, allowing him the ability to sell and work in the city. Records indicate that he worked on commissioned portraits, murals, and large-wall paintings for personal homes.
On October 12, 1654, there was an explosion at a gunpowder storage facility in Delft. Thirty tons of gunpowder accidentally exploded as one of the guards did his rounds to check on the store. Known as the Dutch Thunderclap, this explosion was so large that it took out at least one quarter of the entire city, though some have reported it was larger. Fabritius died in the explosion while at work in his studio. He was working on a commissioned portrait of Simon Decker, a church deacon, and was working with his student, Mattias Spoors. All three men died, and the studio was destroyed along with most of Fabritius’s paintings. Only a dozen or so of his paintings are known to have survived to this day, and just four of them are from his last Delft period. He was just 32 years old.
I only recently learned of this artist by reading Laura Cumming’s book, Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death. I highly recommend it.
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